The Game of Death
by adrien skywalker
Summary: For eons, Thanos of Titan, has desired the love of death. Now, it is within his grasp. All he needs to do, is bring her wayward son, back to her. The problem is that her son doesn't want to go back to her. And unfortunately, for the Avengers and Nick Fury, and to the irritation of Asgard, Earth has now become their battleground, in this Game of Death.
1. Preface

**Beyond the reaches of all Time and Space**

This story begins, beyond all reaches of time and space, where one man dares to go, where no one else in the sentient universe will.

Obsessed with winning the love of Death herself, he toys with the primordial forces of the universe. His singular goal, ultimate power! He is Thanos, the mad Titan.

Having won a victory against the inter-dimensional entity known as Hunger, Thanos was last seen months ago, his plans for the future unknown.

That is … until now…

As he walks calmly, in measured strides, Thanos looks out of the space station's windows to the eternal vastness of space. This is the Kyln, the outermost edge of space, where all the energies of the cosmos collide and are regulated. The visuals are stunning, as bright eldritch streams of various energies collide, in a stunning display of celestial pyrotechnics. But Thanos is not amused, for this is but a trivial sight to his eyes. He has seen things that would defy the minds of Gods themselves; in the entire universe, there is only one being in existence, who can claim more knowledge of the secrets of the cosmos than he, but the devourer of worlds is far away, and Thanos has no desire to tangle in another fight with him. Not now.

The being who walked next to him, bowed his head in reverence at the sight, even as he pulled the hood of his cloak to cover his face.

"She stands beyond there, Titan, go, but be on your best behavior, for all our sakes, for the sake of the entire universe," the man spoke with reverence in his tone, while Thanos grunted, "duly noted, cleric."

As he stood at the edge of the window, gazing out into the space, a figure slowly materialized behind him. Clad in all black, it took the figure of an 8 year old human female child.

"Remember, Titan, be on your best behavior," the cleric warned again, as he walked past the child, after proffering a deep bow to the newcomer.

"Indeed," the child like figure spoke, in a deep tone, which still retained its child-like tenor. As the young girl made her way next to Thanos, who was watching the view, he whispered softly, "Breathtaking view, isn't it?"

"So, you came here for the view?" the girl asked, with amusement rife in her tone.

For a second, Thanos became still, even as he forced his emotions to calm down.

"So, now you speak, after everything, after the countless eons of my service to you, now you deign to speak?"

"Now I have something to say."

"And if I don't want to hear it?"

"Exquisite symbolism, Thanos of Titan. Where better to contemplate recreating oneself, than at the crunch of the universe?"

"The Genesis Cascade, the very edge of the universe…" Thanos mumbled quietly, while the girl smiled, even as she held his arm tightly, and leaned towards him.

"Genesis cascade… I like that, very … romantic"

"I no longer serve you, Mistress Death," the Titan replied curtly.

"Nor have you ever, remember that. It is breath taking," Death whispered quietly, even as she looked at the view outside with a forlorn gaze.

"If you have something to say, say and be done with it," Thanos retorted, reaching the edge of his limited patience, even as he wrenched his hand out of her grasp.

"Don't be like that," she retorted, with a thin smile on her face.

"What have you given me, for all I have ever given you?" Thanos rounded upon her, with anger evident in his tone.

The Lady Death stared at him, with the faint stirring of anger behind her eyes, "Think Titan. What have you ever given me, **but** Death? Did it never occur to you that Death would be the least of my needs? That I would know desire **past** my essence?"

"Must you wear that infernal skin?" Thanos retorted, as he looked at the waif like figure, that his love had used to adorn herself.

Death looked at him with amusement, as she looked at the child-like appearance that she had adorned.

"Does it make you uncomfortable? Do you find it discomfiting to hear this form, speak of dark desire?"

"Very" Thanos retorted, even as he scrunched his face in revulsion.

She smiled grimly, "Lesson learned, Thanos of Titan. I am Death, I am not of comfort."

"Good to know."

Even as Thanos turned his back to her, she smiled.

"All that I did, I did in your name. How can you throw it away so cavalierly?"

"You would have made it a gift to me, would you not? A universe devoid of life … and to what gain? Without life … **there is no Death."**

Thanos stood still, as the gravity of the words sunk into his mind, before he turned away.

"I no longer serve you, Mistress Death."

She sighed in exasperation, "And back to that … the things you mortals cling to …,"

"I am far from mortal," Thanos retorted quickly, with anger lacing his tone.

"Not to me…," she retorted calmly, even as Thanos forcibly acknowledged the truth in her words. For her, everything was mortal.

Death slowly approached him, with sadness rife in her eyes.

"I have always loved you, Thanos of Titan, to the extent that I am able," she whispered even as she held his arms, and looked at his face, with the barest smidgen of affection in her eyes, for the first time since ever.

"Learn how to love me … I am well worth the effort."

"What would you have me do?"

"My station prohibits me from abandoning my duties, but, if another were to take over my station, then at last, I will be free, free enough to grant you your desire, and in doing so fulfill my own."

"You are Death, is it even possible for you to abandon your station?"

"No, none can replace that which is irreplaceable. I am a primordial force, only one who is born of me, can take my place, and grant me the freedom I desire…" she mumbled, while Thanos whirled around in shock.

"You …," he whispered, aghast at the implications.

"Galactus … is not the sole survivor of the Big Bang, and of the universe that came before… there is another, one who survived. Long ago, in the universe prior to the current, I made the mistake of falling in love with a mortal, and sired a child. Though dormant, my essence remained within that line, until it awakened within the last survivor. A boy, who managed to harness my powers, and laid claim to the position of my heir."

"You have an heir…," Thanos growled in anger, anger at the fact that someone else had taken what should have been his right.

"Do not get angry. It was long before your existence. Billions of years have passed since then."

"What do you wish of me?"

"He along with Galactus, were the sole survivors of the cataclysm that destroyed the old universe, and birthed this one. Galactus, took upon himself the role of the universal balancer, and became the devourer of the worlds. The boy, who was of my line, by virtue of his prowess was declared my heir and the Master of Death."

"Master?" Thanos whirled around, with fierce anger coursing around in every single vein of his body.

"MASTER! MASTER? MASTER OF DEATH? OF YOU?" he roared in anger, even as he shook with rage, while she laid a hand on his shoulders to calm him down.

"This was the will of the Cosmic Conclave, of the elders of the universe, and in accordance to the wishes of the other primordial forces of the cosmos. I am and will remain Death, but he was to be trained, to take over from me, and grant me my reprieve from my eternal prison that is my station, when I deemed him worthy. I love him, Thanos; he is … for all intents and purposes … my son; the only one I have ever loved, apart from you, as much as I am able."

"Do this, Titan. Bring my son to me, so that he may take over from me, and free me from my station. Then the rest of eternity will belong to you and me." She whispered, while Thanos stood still.

"He is willful, and impulsive. He has my abilities, and my powers, but he has never known the true love of parents. I have not been much of a mother to him, given what I am, and he has no father, no one to guide him, no one to give him purpose. Bring him here Thanos, become to him the father he never had, and ensure that our family is complete. The family of Death … the mother … the son … and the father."

"Do this … and you will have no more need to address me as Mistress Death, you will have earned the right to call me as what you have always desired … wife," she whispered, while Thanos was overcome with emotion.

At last, after so long, he had what he desired within his grasp.

"Tell me what to do?"

"He has hidden himself in the Planet Earth, go there, find him, and bring him back. Here, this will aid you," she continued, even as she waved her hand, and a brilliant blue cube formed of pure energy shimmered into existence.

"This is the cosmic cube, use it to find him, it will aid you …" she whispered even as she faded from existence, while Thanos held the cube in his hands, with a chilling smile on his face.

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

Is a mix-up between the movie, and the books, with trace elements of the comic world. This is the prologue. Will decide to continue this story depending on the response.


	2. Important Message

Authors Note:

My apologies. I noticed that this story has generated a lot of interest, and as such I felt that the earlier direction I intended to take this story in, would not have worked. So, I have remade the chapter, and posted it again. Please read the updated chapter, posted as Chapter 3.

As for all the plot questions, please be patient. I will of course answer all in due time, but for now I will answer just one, because it needs to be answered. This starts after the end of 'Captain America' and the immediate aftermath of 'Thor'; and before the events in 'Iron Man 2' & 'The Avengers'. I hope to develop my story in a similar vein to 'Wand & SHIELD', which in my opinion is the best HP & Avengers crossover story on the site.

Details about Harry's true nature, will not appear for at least 20 more chapters. However, apart from his knowledge, he will have no other talent worthy of mentioning, and no supernatural abilities for the foreseeable future. I will try to gradually increase the chapter lengths over time.


	3. Genius

**NOTE: Please read the message in chapter 2 before reading this chapter.**

* * *

Deep in his lair, Thanos of Titan was deep in pensive thought. After eons of penance, after eons of service, of unrequited love and sacrifice, his efforts had brought him closer than ever. His lady had finally acknowledged him, and granted him the right to court her. And all he had to offer her, was to bring her (and soon to be his) son back to her.

Soon after the commandment, the Titan had relentlessly poured himself into his work. His fearsome intellect, arguably the most devious, and most dangerous in the entire cosmos, had been fully utilized to achieve his goal.

This would be his greatest achievement, his crowning glory. He had acquired all the knowledge he needed of his quarry, and it had left him impressed, and that was no small feat. The boy, yes, even though his target was the child of a primordial force of the universe, and possibly numbered amongst the five most powerful cosmic beings in existence, was still a boy, not mature enough to wield the energies at his command. But he was still, a very force of nature to be reckoned with. How then, does one go about capturing a force of nature?

The answer was simple, one doesn't. Nature can never be captured, but it can be subdued, and if anyone could subdue this force of nature, it would be he, Thanos of Titan.

His reverie was broken by the voice of his new adviser, and his first acolyte, who had joined his service, after the Titan had ascended to his new station by mastering the power of the Cosmic Cube.

"There can be no denying it, you are supreme. Anything you wish to be, you are. Anything you wish, is. Nothing in this universe, dares challenge that claim. There is only one word, to describe you, GOD. Within your grasp rests the infinite, and my humble personage, bows before your grandeur. I am proud to be your first acolyte, and bask in your divine presence. How may I serve you, great Thanos?"

"By falling silent, Loki."

"The moment is upon us," Thanos paused as he walked forward, and gazed at the planet before him, while Loki Odinson, formerly of Asguard, watched in mesmerized awe, as the Titan continued, "Yes, the moment is upon us, when the entire universe, must come to realize the truth of your words," he concluded, even as the planet shattered into a billion pieces, eradicating all life within, while Loki reflexively took a step back.

"After I accomplish my mistress's bidding, none shall deny me my place in the cosmic pantheon. I shall claim a seat at the head of the table, but that is a tale for another time," the Titan paused, as he turned around and gazed at his new servant, with a soul-penetrating stare.

"You … were a prince, cast out of your home, denied of your birthright, both natural and adopted, like a mere criminal. Like you, I too was cast out, but I, unlike you, aspired to a much higher and loftier goal than you can ever hope to imagine; and now I stand, one of the most powerful beings in existence, an equal, if not superior, to even your own adopted father," Thanos spoke lackadaisically, as Loki stiffened, while his eyes blackened with rage.

"Serve me well, Loki, and you shall be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams. You shall rule not just that pitiful planet, which that sadly inadequate poltroon of your adopted brother cherishes, but all of the nine realms that fall under the dominion of Asguard. What say you?"

"I am yours to command, Lord Thanos," Loki bowed, while the Titan grinned maliciously.

"You are now elevated beyond your station Loki, you shall be my herald, equal in skill and power to the herald of the devourer, for I will allow not anyone to humiliate Thanos, because now your failures shall be known as my failures, should you fail, and that I will not permit," Thanos concluded, even as a glow of energy, similar to the energy of the cosmic cube, enshrouded Loki, at the end of which a magnificent spear, thrumming with the energy of the cube, materialized in front of the Asguardian.

Thanos waved his hand, even as a legion of unspeakable power and strength, made itself visible.

"You shall be the commanding general of my Chitauri, and lead them into glorious battle. Take them, and go to Earth, and seek the boy out. And bring him to me. I have already arranged for the cube's placement in Earth. Go, take possession of the cube, and use it to find him. And if the humans stand before you, burn them to ashes," he smiled grimly, while Loki smiled maliciously, as he turned around and left.

As he watched his new general leave, Thanos snorted. The Asguardian weakling was but a pawn, meant to lure his true prize out of hiding. Besides, it was a rule of the hunt. To lure a prey, you need sufficient bait. And Loki was merely bait, nothing more, nothing less.

* * *

**Three months after the events in New Mexico & the departure of Thor ,**

* * *

Nic Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was currently in his office, aboard the floating headquarters of his organization, deep in pensive thought. The events in the town of New Mexico had left him disturbed. It had finally and irrevocably brought home the fact that they were not alone in this universe. It also emphasized the fact that they were ridiculously, hilariously, outgunned. The universe was expanding with threats that could not be matched. Something needed to be done. Perhaps he needed to have another talk with Selvig, to hasten the research on the Tesseract.

Just then, Coulson barged in, looking out of breath, and with a disturbed look on his face. Fury raised an eyebrow, looking at the agitated state of his Man Friday.

"What is it?"

"We were just hacked, big time. Somebody broke into our databanks, and erased every single file related to Dr. Foster's Research, the tech team tells me it is a total wipe-out."

Fury shot up, alarm flitting through his face, as he rushed past Coulson, and made his way towards the main hangar. Standing there, were Agents Maria Hill, his third-in-command, along with Natasha Romanoff, & Clint Barton, his two best covert operatives.

"Status, now!" Fury barked, even as Hill looked at him with a resigned look in her eyes, while Jimmy Hawke, their chief programmer for infrastructure security, looked at him with a defeated look in his eyes.

"Sir, approximately fifteen minutes ago, somebody just hacked into our network, and wiped out every single file pertaining to Dr. Jane Foster's Research data. It is gone, director, we have nothing."

"We have contingencies for this Hawke, what about our back-ups?" Fury asked as he began to pace around briskly.

"Whoever they were, they were extremely thorough. They took care of the contingencies of our contingencies. They wiped out all the back-up files stored in our 317 servers placed strategically in 14 countries. Everything was wiped out in a single sweep."

Fury moaned with a pained grimace. This was possibly the single biggest breach in their organization's history.

"Anything else?"

"Yes sir, those hackers," Hawke paused, as he fidgeted nervously, before continuing after a pointed stare from Fury, "They placed a single message in all the places where those files were stored, Sir."

"A message?" Natasha asked, with an eyebrow raised elegantly, while Hawke nodded.

"Simply put, it says '**Don't take something that does not belong to you, slug heads**'"

"Who is doing this, some hacker from a remote shack in a mountain, an enemy organization, who could have done this? Who has the resources conduct an attack of this magnitude on us?" Hill muttered, as she too began to think on possible suspects.

"Sir, I think we can rule out any of the normal suspects, this is clearly something else," Hawke interjected, even as everybody paused, and looked at the man.

"Explain," the command was delivered in a terse tone, even as Hawke steeled himself for the furious rebuttals that would follow.

"Sir, they hacked our firewall in ten seconds. Even the most powerful supercomputer in the world, with a brute-force attack would require twenty years to do that,"

Looking at the incredulous looks on the faces of his listeners, the man continued, "The signal pattern is learning and it is evolving on its own. We need to move past Fourier transfers, and start considering quantum mechanics…"

"There is nothing on earth that is that complex," Fury interjected, even though it sounded hollow, to everyone, including himself.

"No General, I believe now there is, and whoever it is, we don't know who or what has it," Hawke ended, while a heavy silence fell upon the room.

"What do we do, Sir?" Hill asked, while everyone became silent.

"Hill, I want this place on total lock-down. This is a code 7. Coulson, get Dr. Foster, & Dr. Selvig, I think it is high time, we had a chat with our resident geniuses. Barton, Romanoff, you are coming too," Fury turned around, and made his way out, as his subordinates rushed to follow his orders.

* * *

As Jane Foster & Erik Selvig, looked at the face of Director Fury, they knew that something was wrong. Selvig of course, was acquainted with Fury closely, as he was the lead scientist researching on the Tesseract, and interacted with him on a daily basis. Jane on the other hand, had interacted only with Coulson, and was meeting Fury for the first time. She found the experience more than intimidating.

They were meeting in a conference room, in one of the research bases of S.H.I.E.L.D., with them seated at one end of a conference table, while Fury sat at the other hand. Coulson, Romanoff & Barton hung around in the back unobtrusively, as they watched the proceedings.

"So, what is this about, director? Why are we … here?" Selvig asked, as he looked askance at Jane, wondering why the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., would want her present in the meeting.

Fury was looking at Jane intently, trying to discern any possible signs of deception in her face, and after not finding any, he concluded (reluctantly) that the young woman was completely unaware of the events in question.

"Dr. Selvig, twelve hours ago, someone hacked into the secure databanks of S.H.I.E.L.D., and erased every last shred of Dr. Foster's research data. We were wondering if you have any information to shed about that?"

"What?" Jane exclaimed in shock, as she stood up, nostrils flaring, while she glared at Erik.

"You promised me that they could keep my data safe, Erik; what is going on here?" she whirled around, and glared at the older man, who winced. Fury looked at the girl in surprise, apparently under that timid exterior, lurked a feisty woman.

"And you," she whirled around and glared at Coulson, who actually took a step back in alarm. "I agreed to work with S.H.I.E.L.D., because you promised to help me, what kind of spies are you, if you can't protect your own information networks?" she ranted, while Fury physically winced at the barb.

"Jane, calm down ," Erik restrained her, while she huffed and sat down. "Please excuse her, she is a bit … upset," Selvig offered apologetically, while Natasha scoffed.

"Director, what exactly happened?" Selvig asked, to which Fury explained in detail, at which even Selvig and Jane were shocked, with Jane even feeling guilty at her untimely outburst. She had not known that things were this bad.

"The hacker also left a message," Fury continued, while Selvig raised an eyebrow.

"A message?"

"_Don't take something that does not belong to you, slug heads_," Fury repeated the message verbatim.

Instantly, Jane Foster and Erik Selvig shot up from their seats, with alarm flitting through their faces.

Looking at their shocked faces, Fury knew he had hit pay dirt, even as Romanoff and Barton came into sight.

"So, you do know what it means, huh?" Fury asked, with cold icy rage, seeping through his veins.

Ignoring the director, Selvig turned on Jane, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights, "_Damn it Jane, what the hell is he doing?_"

"I don't know … he wouldn't … he couldn't … he knows the risks!"

"Don't lie to me Jane, when did he contact you?" Erik asked again in anger, while Jane began to shake her head hysterically, "I don't know, I haven't spoken to him in three years, this is so wrong …, he knows the risks, and I don't know why he did this!"

"Damn it to hell, when I find that boy, I am going to kill him for real this time!", Erik raged, while the members of S.H.I.E.L.D. watched the conversation with great interest.

"Dr. Selvig," Fury barked harshly, even as both scientists stopped arguing and looked at the man with a guilty look on their faces.

"Explain everything," Fury ordered, brooking no arguments.

* * *

"Director, that message is a code. It was a phrase used by someone we both knew very well, and someone who is currently in living in self-exile. We believe that this is his way of sending a message to us," Selvig concluded softly, while Fury narrowed his eyes.

"Who?"

"His name is Dr. Harold James Potter, he is also the step-brother of Jane, and he is or was at any rate, my greatest student at one time."

"We have no records of any Harold James Potter, in our data banks. We vetted Dr. Foster's background thoroughly, before allowing her to work for S.H.I.E.L.D.," Natasha interjected, at which Selvig scoffed.

"Of course you wouldn't; before he went into his self-imposed exile, Harry wiped out every single record of his existence, in all the data banks in the world, which had any remote knowledge about him. He is for all purposes, an invisible man."

Fury raised his single eyebrow at that. That kind of extreme dedication to erasing one's identity did not occur spontaneously. He needed to know more. So he continued to listen even as Selvig went on.

"But," Jane interjected, "I still don't know how he managed to do what he did to S.H.I.E.L.D., I mean he no longer has accesses to the resources he needs to do something of this magnitude, right Erik?" she asked hesitantly as she looked at him with worry and fear rife in her eyes, while Selvig massaged his forehead with a grimace.

"Jane, you know who you are talking about. _Your brother is the most intelligent human being to have been born in the planet's history for a reason_. If he really had decided to hack S.H.I.E.L.D., then you know damn well, that they have no one remotely capable of stopping him," which consequently, riled up the members of the said organization.

"Excuse me doctor, could you please repeat that statement," Fury asked with a very calm voice, even as Barton and Romanoff came and stood next to Fury, with curiosity burning in their eyes. Even Coulson seemed unusually interested.

" _The_ _most intelligent human being to have been born in the planet's history, _I find that a very interesting statement to make_, _Dr. Selvig; because if there exists such a person in this world, then that person would and should be working for us," Fury interjected, "now tell me the truth, the real truth and leave nothing out."

"Which is exactly the reason, why Harry took steps to ensure that no government agency could ever learn of his true accomplishments, Director. I think you should know why I claimed him to be the most intelligent human being to have been born in the planet's history, and just to give you an idea as to who it is that you are actually dealing with; know that Dr. Harry James Potter was certified with an IQ of 327 at the age of 14," he concluded, at which even Fury stood up in shock.

"That is not possible," Barton blurted out, at which Selvig scoffed.

"If you eliminate the impossible, then the remaining however improbable, is the truth," Jane retorted, with a look of pride on her face.

"Harry holds multiple doctorates, in the fields of Molecular Astrobiology, Metallurgical Astrophysics, Thermonuclear dynamics, Aeronautical & Naval Engineering, Advanced Data Engineering & Neurological sciences," Jane continued smugly, at which there was a shocking silence.

"That is a lot of degrees," Coulson retorted with dismay rife in his tone, while Barton uttered a mute 'no shit'.

"I am sorry doctor, but what you say is simply not possible, believe me, we would have found out about someone with that kind of talent. Even if he wiped his records, after whatever caused his exile, he would have come into our notice long before, during the course of his studies itself," Fury insisted.

"Which is precisely why he took precautions to avoid that. He obtained those degrees from various universities around the world, each of them from a different country in a different university, under various aliases, in long-distance courses, and internships, and he did them all of them at the same time, within 3 years," there was an unmistakable tone of pride in Selvig's voice, which Fury didn't like a bit, based in no small part due to the now revealed existence of a 20 year old kid, who had apparently made his entire organization look like a bunch of nincompoops.

As she heard the list of accolades, Natasha whistled softly in appreciation, "Goodbye Einstein, Stark & Banner, hello Mr. Potter."

* * *

"What happened?" Fury asked, after he composed himself and glared at the good doctor.

"Excuse me?"

"What caused him to go into self-exile?"

"He came into the attention of a particularly unpleasant individual, and I believe it is someone whom even you are acquainted with, at least at some level," Selvig spoke softly, while Jane narrowed her eyes in anger.

"Who?"

"**General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross**"

That name generated a guarded reaction amongst all the members of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Go on," Fury prompted, even as a vague and disturbing possibility came into his mind.

"After his accomplishments, Harry joined DARPA, as a research intern in their medical research division. He of course, took care to hide all of his accomplishments, so that they would not be aware of his true potential," Selvig continued, while everybody listened with riveted attention.

"So … what happened?" Barton asked, while Natasha stubbed his toe, warning him to stay silent.

"He accidentally created or should I say, recreated something that brought him a lot of unwanted attention,"

"Such as?" Coulson asked, with fascination adorning his eyes.

"He recreated the super soldier serum of Dr. Abraham Erskine, he actually developed an improved version of it."

"**WHAT!"**Every single person stood up, shocked to their core. Fury was literally trembling in shock and excitement.

"Dr. Selvig, are you telling me that your adopted nephew actually managed to recreate the fabled super soldier formula?" Coulson asked in a careful tone, to which Selvig nodded reluctantly.

"However, it was his undoing," Jane muttered darkly, as everybody looked at her in surprise.

"Harry," Jane continued, "was scared of the ramifications of his research. You must understand, my brother is a hardcore pacifist, which is why the possible applications of his research scared him,"

"Oh, I don't like where this is going," Barton muttered, while Natasha grimaced at the implications of Jane's words.

"Because of that, he destroyed all the samples, and all the notes of his research, and using some unknown means, he managed to wipe out all the memories pertaining to that research from his own brain, literally."

Fury literally moaned in pain at the lost opportunity. To think that someone had managed to recreate the holy grail of all the militaries worldwide, only to have it lost due to the sentiments of a fool, who couldn't understand its true value. He didn't know whether to congratulate the boy or to shoot him dead!

"Why, why would he do such a thing?" Coulson asked aghast, at which Selvig shrugged, "he said humanity was not ready to have that kind of power in its hands, at least not yet."

"I don't believe this … I simply don't fucking believe this …" Fury lashed out in anger, as he literally began to pace around.

"You two numbskull geniuses…," he pointed at Jane and Erik, "better not leave anything out. What happened afterwards?" he literally roared, with spit flying out of his mouth, even as Jane and Erik winced.

"When General Ross found out what Harry did, he went nearly insane. The man is obsessed with the super soldier program, you know. He had Harry arrested and thrown into a cell. They tortured him brutally, thinking that he had simply turned traitor and given it to some enemies, until they finally realized that Harry had truly no recollection how he had accomplished it. They came close to nearly killing him," Jane blurted out, while the members of S.H.I.E.L.D. carefully avoided looking at the eyes of the two agitated scientists.

They needed no proof to know that the two of them were telling the truth. Ross's obsession with the super soldier program was a legend in military circles. All of them knew, that Ross would literally sell his soul to the devil, if it would get him the super soldier formula.

"They tried to recreate his work of course," Selvig continued, "but they didn't have Harry's data, and they created a botched up version of it, which they used upon that unfortunate soldier; who turned into the _Abomination_ that fought the _Hulk_ in Harlem, four years ago."

Fury narrowed his eyes, as did everybody else. They had not been aware of this little bit of information. It appeared that General Ross was long overdue for an inspection of his work.

"During the Hulk's rampage across the city, the General's base was destroyed, which luckily involved the section containing Harry's prison. He managed to escape during the confusion, otherwise, Ross would have kept him there for his entire life," Jane concluded.

"So, that was why…" Fury now understood why the boy had gone to such extremes. General Ross had the unfortunate and (un)intended habit of destroying scientists and their livelihoods; one just had to take a look at Banner, and now obviously Potter.

"How did you do it? How did he arrange his exile?" Coulson asked, with a bit of sympathy in his tone, after hearing the brutal ordeal the boy had suffered.

"We knew that Ross would hunt him to the ends of the world. So we devised a plan, wherein he created a life model decoy of his own body, identical to the last shred of his DNA, and I helped him to stage his death in an accident. After which, he erased all records of his existence, and went into his self-imposed exile," Selvig finished, while Fury raised his eyebrow in appreciation.

"I underestimated you Dr. Selvig, maybe I should have appointed you as the head our Scientific Black Ops unit."

"As interesting as this back story is," Natasha interrupted, "it still doesn't explain why he hacked our network," Natasha butted in, reminding them all of the purpose for which the meeting had been convened originally.

"_I would be happy to explain why I hacked your network, Agent Romanoff," _ a disembodied voice came up from the speaker of the intercom unit placed on the conference desk, as everybody jumped up in alarm.

* * *

"What the fuck?" Barton jumped in alarm, even as he already nocked an arrow on his bow, while Coulson, Natasha and Fury had their handguns out, scanning their immediate surroundings for any and all threats.

"Wait," Jane jumped up in surprise, with an undercurrent of happiness in her voice, as she gestured the military people to calm down.

"Harry, is that you?"

"_Hey sis, glad to hear your voice_" the tone over the speaker came out, even as the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel hurriedly held a discussion of their own.

"How the hell did that kid get on our network? I thought this place was totally secure!" Fury growled, while the others looked on helplessly.

"Harry James Potter, you imbecile, what the hell do you think you are doing? You were in self-exile for a reason, buster, and you have now thrown it all away! What the hell is wrong with you?" Jane ranted, while the speaker fell silent.

"I have to agree with Jane, Harry," Selvig interjected, "You went away for a reason, what possible motive could you have for this?"

"_I will explain everything, uncle Erik, could you put General Fury on the line, please?_"

Fury took a deep breath and stepped forward, "Dr. Potter, we have a lot to talk about from the looks of things,"

"_Indeed General, could you please ask Agents Romanoff, Barton & Coulson to relax please? I am not some enemy to be wary about, you know?_" the voice came out, at which the shoulder's of Coulson and Barton slacked, while Natasha's jaw dropped in amazement.

"How the hell does he know we are here? Does he have a camera in here?" Barton whispered to Coulson, who shrugged, " I don't know!"

"_You can relax, agent Barton, I had all of you under surveillance even before you entered that conference room. In fact, I have taken over the surveillance network of the entire base, and I have been listening into your conference from the beginning. Nice intro to my life by the way, Uncle Erik_," the voice came out in a cheery tone, while Selvig winced, even as Jane slapped her forehead in irritation.

Fury's jaw was twitching, and if looks could kill, he would have burned the intercom unit to ashes.

"We need to find this kid soon, he is like a walking, talking digital nuclear bomb," Coulson muttered in exasperation, while Natasha and Barton agreed in unison.

"And why would you do that, Dr. Potter?" Fury growled, while the intercom fell silent.

"_**For the same reason why I hacked the S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-carrier and erased all of Jane's research. To save her life.**_"

There was an ominous silence at that, while Fury contemplated the words.

"Care to explain, Dr. Potter?"

"_More than you know, General. I think you should start by knowing that all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s databanks were compromised beyond hope. I intervened in order to erase Jane's data, so that the people who are after it, would not find it. They are aware that the data exists, but they are not yet aware of the source, nor have they actually acquired the data yet. I took steps to ensure that they never will._"

"And why should I believe you? Who are these so called people who are, as you say, interested in your sister's research?"

There was a lengthy pause, after which the voice came back.

"_Do the names '__**Hydra**__' & the '__**Red Skull**__' ring a bell, General Fury_?"

"I think, you and I need to meet, Dr. Potter," Fury replied after a terse silence, at which the reply came back.

"_Of course, I will forward my co-ordinates to your tablet_" after which, the intercom fell silent.

Abruptly, Fury left the room, leaving an uncomfortable silence in his wake.


	4. Contact

The next 24 hours after the meeting in the PEGASUS facility had been the most harrowing in the history of S.H.I.E.L.D., as far as Natasha was concerned. Even though she knew that he would deny it to his dying breath, she knew, she knew deep down that Fury had been shaken to his very core, at the blatant ease with which the unseen Dr. Potter had destroyed the vaunted the technological superiority of S.H.I.E.L.D.

But she had to give credit where credit was due, and she was grudgingly (and very at that) considering the possibility, that the extravagant claims made by Foster and Selvig had made, could be true. For an organization that prided on overwhelming its opponents with its vaunted technological superiority, for once S.H.I.E.L.D. had been subjected to the same brutal technological assault that it was fond of inflicting upon others. It had been a humbling experience to say the least.

Upon return, Coulson had tried to find any shred of information he could about their new quarry, but he had failed. For the first time since its inception, S.H.I.E.L.D. had failed at locating someone. She idly wondered if this young man, would be the first one in existence to crack through the invulnerable Nick Fury's Iron Mind; and she had to admit, he had done a lot more to gain Fury's attention, than Tony Stark ever could in a dozen lifetimes.

Suddenly, Coulson appeared next to her. "He sent the co-ordinates, Fury's waiting at the bridge," for once, Coulson looked as old as he appeared. Even the old man was feeling the heat, she idly wondered, _what else can go wrong this day?_

She had no idea.

At the bridge, she noticed that Maria Hill appeared quite tense. Fury, Clint and a bunch of others, stood staring at a map, with what seemed to be a shell-shocked expression.

"What's going on?"she asked Clint, who just shrugged.

"The doc sent his co-ordinates, and the director went to that place, but he didn't show up,"

Natasha raised her eyebrows, ever since the debacle at the base, Barton had taken to calling Potter as 'Doc', and when questioned about that, all he had said was; _what else are you going to call a guy who has two dozen doctorates?_

Meanwhile, Fury was standing behind his tech team, even as the said team tried their level best, to decode Potter's location from the message he had sent.

Suddenly, the speakers around the bridge became active, "_You violated our agreement, director, and I find it difficult to trust men who break their word._"

Natasha stiffened, even as Coulson moaned with a pained grimace, while Barton grinned. The voice coming over the speakers was that of Dr. Harry James Potter.

"PEGASUS was one thing, but the carrier as well?" Coulson nearly whined, "this kid is making a monkey of us all!"

A terse silence filled the area, as Fury gazed at the speakers, with an inscrutable look in his eyes.

"The same could be said to you as well, Dr. Potter; you agreed to meet us, and yet you broke the agreement first, what am I to make of it?"

"Indeed," the voice came back, "I agreed to meet you director, what I didn't agree to, however, was to being turned into a museum showpiece for the nearly three dozen agents, who accompanied you as your back-up."

Barton grimaced, Fury had gone in gung-ho with all razzle-dazzle as usual, to try and intimidate the kid, and it had failed. Now, the kid was returning the favor. This would not be good.

"Now I understand that you are accustomed to always giving orders," Potter's voice came out, "but in this instance, you will follow mine, or you will never hear from me again. You are not the only game in town, director; my approaching you was not a plea for assistance, it was just a courtesy. You would do well to remember that."

Natasha stiffened, even as Coulson drew a deep breath. "Hardball," Clint muttered, even as they all looked at Fury to gauge his reaction.

"So, where do we go from here?" Fury asked after a minute's silence.

"I will re-send you co-ordinates for a different rendezvous point, and this time, you will come alone, or else, I will shut down every piece of electrical equipment S.H.I.E.L.D. possesses, for good. Do I make myself clear?"

"Agreed," Fury replied with gritted teeth, even as the speakers fell silent, as everybody in the vicinity slowly backed away from the director.

Suddenly, Fury's smart phone beeped twice, at which Fury took it out. After gazing at it for a few seconds, Fury turned to Coulson, "get my chopper ready."

* * *

Five hours later, Fury found himself looking at the entrance of the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies in the Smithsonian at Washington, where the meet was supposed to take place.

_(The Center for Earth and Planetary Studies is a research institute affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. Based in Washington, DC, the Center, which was founded in 1972, conducts scientific research related to planetary science, geophysics and the biophysical environment. As a Regional Planetary Image Facility, the Center hosts for NASA data including images and maps of planets and their satellites. It also houses images taken by the Space Shuttle. Both of these date collections are accessible to researchers. The Center, which is located at the National Air and Space Museum, curates two of its galleries, Exploring the Planet and Looking at Earth, as well as contributing elsewhere in the museum._

_Among other research, the Center is studying the tectonic history of the planet Mercury, developing geologic maps of Venus, researching geomorphology on Earth, and exploring terrain formation through Mars.)_

Steeling himself, Fury entered the place. Approaching a picture portrait of Saturn and its moons, Fury sat down at the bench opposite at the painting, even as he waited as instructed.

A few minutes later, one of the visitors to the museum, a teenager, approached and gazed at the painting, after which he stepped back and sat down next to Fury, even as he gazed at the painting.

"Always makes me feel melancholy. A grand planet like that, in the middle of space, just gives an ill vibe, don't you think?" the boy asked Fury, who grunted, not really looking at the boy.

"What do you see?" the boy asked, at which Fury grunted "a bloody big planet," at which the boy continued to gaze at him.

Annoyed with the interruption, he got up and made to move, when the next words from the boy stopped him in his tracks.

"Director Fury, I am Dr. Potter"

That stopped Fury cold, as he turned around and took a good look at his companion. The boy was about 19 to 20 years old, with messy black hair, disturbingly green eyes, and a pair of glasses which were held together by tape, on his face. He was wearing black slacks, with a white shirt, and a tie, covered by a brown sweater, with a laptop bag in his hand. All in all, a very unassuming look, which would not be out of place on a college going kid.

"You must be joking," was the first thing that automatically came out of Fury's mouth.

"Why, because I am not wearing a lab coat?"

"Because you still have spots"

"My complexion is hardly relevant"

"And your confidence is?" was the sarcastic reply from the director.

"Age is no guarantee of efficiency director,"

"And youth is no guarantee of innovation," was the rejoinder.

Potter scoffed, "I can do more damage than the entirety of world war 2 combined, from my laptop in my pajamas, before drinking a cup of tea, and you are still asking me this?"

Fury blinked, and then recomposed himself.

"Well then, why did you approach S.H.I.E.L.D. if you can do all that? What do you need us for?"

"Because every now and then, a trigger needs to be pulled"

"Or not pulled, it is hard to know which in your pajamas," Fury retorted, as he suddenly had an epiphany as to why the boy had approached him. Seeing the look in his eyes, the boy smiled and proffered his hand.

"Director Fury"

"Doctor Potter" Fury returned and grabbed the boys' hand, and released it quickly.

Slowly, Potter turned around, and opened his briefcase, and brought out a small leather case, and handed it to Fury.

"This case contains a DVD, which has all the information you require. It is DNA encoded, and will require the prints of yourself to unlock it. I suggest that you gather Agents Coulson, Romanoff, Barton & Hill, along with my sister and uncle. This will play only once after which it will self-destruct, and I don't need to tell you, that the information in this can't be copied," he finished, while Fury slid it into his trench coat.

Afterwards, he handed Fury a new smart phone, "Once you are done watching it, you can contact me on this, and we can discuss our options," he spoke as he got up.

"Dr. Potter," Fury replied after a moments' silence, "you do know that S.H.I.E.L.D. can protect you from General Ross & the military, I would prefer that you come in with us," the man stated, to which Potter smiled.

"I am not staying away to protect myself Director, I am staying away to protect all of you. When you watch the contents of that disc, then you will know. For now, our goal is better served by my remaining anonymous," and with that he was gone.

* * *

In the Heli – Carrier, all of the required members were present within Fury's private office, even as the director took out the DVD from the case. Coulson, Hill, Natasha & Barton, along with Jane and Erik were all surprised at the invitation from Fury, even as the director explained in clipped tones as to what had taken place at the meeting.

Though disappointed that her little brother had not returned along with the director, Jane was nevertheless eager to see the message, her brother had forwarded to them all.

As the DVD was inserted and played, on the screen, Harry's profile was visible.

* * *

"_If you are watching this DVD, then I will assume that Director Fury has managed to successfully meet with me, and has gathered this disc."_

"_Before we get into the details, let me give you all a brief outlook of what you are involved in, and know that I gathered this information from our enemies themselves," he waved his hand, as an image of the Tesseract appeared on the screen._

"_As you all know, this is the Tesseract, an object of extra-terrestrial origin. This objects power potential is virtually immeasurable. Legend states that this was the crown jewel of Odin's treasure room in Asguard. And by Odin, yes, I mean Odin, the king of the Norse Gods, and the Father of Thor, whom you have all met. Let me take this moment to make this clear, they are not aliens, they are what they claim to be, Gods."_

* * *

"Christ," Barton muttered, while Jane looked at the screen in shock. She had assumed that Thor was an alien, who had been worshipped by ancient Vikings as a God, but she had no idea that he was the genuine article.

"This changes everything," Hill muttered as she watched the screen, even as Fury resumed playing the disc.

* * *

"_Fearful of the damage this could cause in the hands of others, Odin hid this in the Earth, where unfortunately during the second world war, this artifact was unearthed by the Nazis, more specifically, the Nazi armed forces' scientific division, also named as HYDRA."_

"_HYDRA was the brain child of Colonel Johann Schmidt, the greatest scientific genius of Nazi Germany, who dreamed of building a global empire, under the Nazi ideals. His technological ingenuity made him a favorite of Hitler, who provided him with the resources he needed to create HYDRA."_

"_Schmidt dreamed of creating the perfect human soldier, or as you say, a super soldier. As such, he held Dr. Abraham Erskine, the creator of the original super soldier formula, hostage. Fearful of the damage a madman like Schmidt could cause, Dr. Erskine sabotaged Schmidt's efforts before escaping. Nevertheless, Schmidt managed to use that flawed concept upon himself, and it was 90 percent successful, although it left his skull damaged, by burning off any layer of skin upon it, forcing upon him the moniker, the Red Skull."_

* * *

"Is that true? I thought it was some freak accident or something, but I never knew that he was a flawed example of the super soldier program," Coulson muttered, while Fury remained pensive.

Jane and Erik, who were completely unaware of this, were left gazing at the screen, spell-bound.

Impatient to hear more, Natasha grabbed the remote, and continued playing the disc.

* * *

"_Upon unearthing the Tesseract, Schmidt managed to successfully create weapons that could channel its energy. However, before he could utilize them to alter the scope of the war, he was stopped. And the reason for that, was the first true super soldier of the human race, the legendary Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America," here the screen paused, even as a image appeared on the screen, depicting Captain America and the Red Skull in mortal combat._

* * *

"Whoa," Jane whispered in awe as she looked at a series of images, which gave a play-by-play account of the final fight between the legendary war hero and his nemesis. She was not alone, as all the people in the room watched entranced as the battle played out before their eyes.

* * *

"_Schmidt, had managed to devise and build a missile, with a warhead that was made up concentrated energy gathered from the Tesseract, and intended to launch it upon the United States. However, that attempt was thwarted, when the allied forces stormed his base. In the ensuing battle, Schmidt was literally disintegrated, upon coming into direct contact with the Tesseract and its energy. But still, to save his country, Captain America sacrificed himself, and crashed the bomber with the missile into the Atlantic, thereby saving the world, and ending the threat of Schmidt."_

* * *

For a second, everyone lowered their heads, as a mark of respect for the fallen hero.

"So, did you recover that plane from where it crashed?" Jane asked curiously, at which Coulson replied with genuine sorrow in his voice.

"We have been searching for it for the last seventy years, but we still have not found it."

"And we will not stop until it is found," Fury retorted, even as he resumed playing the video.

* * *

"_After the war, everyone assumed that HYDRA had been defeated, however that was not the case. HYDRA survived, and retreated in the shadows to reorganize."_

* * *

"No," Fury whispered aghast, as he stood up in shock, while the members of S.H.I.E.L.D. gazed at the screen in horror.

* * *

"_They had learnt their lesson from the war very well. They retreated deep into the shadows, and reorganized themselves, according to the instructions they received from their true patrons. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me reveal to you the existence of the true force behind HYDRA's secret. __**The Chitauri**__. They are an alien species who arrived on the Earth, in 1745, and have been responsible for many acts of Genocide since then, with the most notable one being the second world war. Eight feet tall, and reptilian in appearance, they have the capability to assume human form, and as such, they infiltrated the German political movement in the 1920's, and precipitated both the rise of National Socialism, and one Adolf Hitler, and the man who aided them in this, was Colonel Johann Schmidt," even as the screen was bombarded with images of the Chitauri, in their true forms, as well as their assumed guises of Nazi Soldiers, in world war 2._

* * *

"Holy shit," Barton muttered, as everybody looked at the screen in pure, unadulterated horror.

"This is nuts, it can't be true … it just can't…" Hill was muttering to herself, trying to convince herself that what she was witnessing was not real.

"Quiet," Fury snapped, even as he resumed playing the video.

* * *

"_The Chitauri of course, were smart enough to keep to the shadows, because any direct involvement by them, would have forced Odin himself to intervene directly, with the full might of Asguard. We may not know it, but as part of the nine realms, we are under the jurisdiction of Asguard, and are under its protection, which is why no alien race has dared to attack Earth to date, even though we ourselves are unaware of it. They indirectly contacted Schmidt, and provided him the necessary knowledge and knowhow needed to devise weapons from the Tesseract. In that ill-fated battle, Schmidt was about to actually open a portal to allow an invasion force from the Chitauri to come to Earth. The Chitauri would win the Earth for him, and in return they would gain possession of the Tesseract, which would allow them to counter Asguard as equals. That was their plan. But it was all thwarted, due to one man. Captain America. This planet owes that man a debt far greater than any, even though he himself was unaware of the true nature of the foe he was fighting."_

* * *

"Son of a bitch," Fury swore, even as he turned towards Jane.

"Next time your boyfriend comes a calling, we need to have a really lengthy chat," he all but growled, while Jane just nodded simply, unable to retort.

"So, we have this Chitauri to blame for all this, eh?" Coulson spoke out softly, burning the image of the aliens in his mind, while the others remained silent, even as Hill continued to play the disc.

* * *

"_After the war, HYDRA retreated to the shadows and reorganized themselves. Today, they call themselves as Applied Idea Mechanics or A.I.M., to be precise. A.I.M. is an organization of brilliant scientists and their hirelings dedicated to the acquisition of power and the overthrow of all world governments by technological means._

_Its leadership has traditionally consisted of a seven-member Board of Directors (formerly known as the Imperial Council) with a rotating chairperson. Under the Directors are various division supervisors, and under them are the technicians and salesmen/dealers._

_The organization supplies arms and technology to various terrorist and subversive organizations both to foster a violent technological revolution and to make a profit. A.I.M. operatives are usually involved in research, development, manufacturing, and sales of high technology. Members of A.I.M. are required to at least have a Master's degree, if not a PhD, in some area of science, mathematics, or business. Generally, the organization starts scouting for potential members in all the major universities worldwide, and attempts to recruit them directly after they graduate._

_Blackmail, Corruption, Coercion or outright Greed, they use any and all means at their disposal to recruit their staff, and they are very successful at it. The combined brain power of the scientists on their payroll surpasses that of all the scientists in the rest of the world combined._

_A.I.M.'s reach is worldwide, including various front organizations such as Targo Corporation, Hammer Industries, International Data Integration and Control, and Cadenza Industries. A.I.M. has also operated under some other fronts including Koenig and Strey, Pacific Vista Laboratories, and Omnitech._

_A.I.M. has multiple bases of operations, including a nuclear submarine mobile base in the Atlantic Ocean; and bases in the Bronx, New York; Black Mesa, Colorado; West Caldwell, New Jersey; Asia, Canada, Europe, Haiti, India, Sudan and Boca Caliente (also known as AIM Island), an island in the Caribbean._

_And their existence is unknown to every single intelligence agency in the world, including S.H.I.E.L.D., until now that is._"

* * *

As Hill paused, Fury launched into a furious diatribe, which was frankly speaking, wholly unprintable. Coulson looked like he had been shot, while Natasha, Hill & Barton were pale as ghosts, as they stared at the screen in horror.

"He is lying, right? He has to be … tell me he is lying, Erik," Jane looked at her father figure, for some assurance, which was not forthcoming.

"So, this is what we are up against," Coulson muttered as he looked at the screen.

"A.I.M., now that we know what we are up against, we need to devise a plan of action," Natasha began, only to be interrupted by Fury, "Devise later, for now, we watch," he spoke brooking no arguments, as he continued playing the disc.

* * *

"_For the last seventy years, since the end of the great war, A.I.M. has been busy preparing for an eventual war of a scale that you can't even begin to imagine. The Chitauri are still in contact with them, and have been providing them extra terrestrial technology to advance their goals._

_A.I.M. has entered into an agreement with them. They will gain possession of the Tesseract and hand it over to the Chitauri, and in return they will win the Earth for them. _

_A.I.M. knows that S.H.I.E.L.D. possesses the Tesseract, they know where it is kept, they even get regular updates on the research you are doing on it. They know everything. _

_However, something happened that they didn't anticipate. Asguard initiated direct contact with Earth or more specifically one Asguardian did, which they did not expect, and it had the potential to derail their plans, and was a direct threat to them._

_The same threat that I posed to them, when I recreated the super soldier serum. When I recreated the super soldier formula, I was approached by A.I.M., who had somehow managed to uncover the details of my true accomplishments, despite my considerable efforts to hide them. They tried to recruit me, and offered me the same spiel they give to their other potential recruits. Women, Money, Power, whatever I wished as mine for the taking._

_I however, decided to learn more about whom I was dealing with, and in return, I hacked into A.I.M.'s files, where I gathered all this information. Suffice to say, I had stumbled into something that was beyond me. However, I knew that after coming under their gaze, they would not let me go. Still, fearing the consequences of what that formula could be used for under their hands, I destroyed every single shred of my research and all my samples, and using an invention of my own design, I removed all traces of the knowledge to create that serum from my own brain, as insurance in case I was captured by them. What happened afterwards, you all know, courtesy of uncle Eric. And for the last four years in my exile, I have used all my resources to gather every bit of information on them._

_However, I was forced to come out of exile ahead of schedule, when I learned that Jane was the one to initiate contact with Asguard."_

* * *

Fury paused the video, as he looked at Jane, who looked close to tears, while Selvig was looking at the screen with a frown on his face.

"We need to get rid of the moles in S.H.I.E.L.D., on a priority, this is not looking good, boss," Coulson muttered, while the others nodded their head in agreement.

"Later," that was all Fury would say, as he continued to play the video.

* * *

"_What you all don't know is that the plan that A.I.M. has concocted with the Chitauri is nearing completion. The Chitauri has provided them with the technology they need to wipe out any opposition on Earth._

_S.H.I.E.L.D. is devising weapons using the Tesseract, called Phase 2. What you don't know is that A.I.M. has already done the same, and they are now at what I would call Phase 9, and it is operational. S.H.I.E.L.D. is outgunned, and outmatched and in every conceivable way. You are fighting in a war, Director Fury, one which you have already lost, and you don't even know that this war exists in the first place._

_The Chitauri have made their own arrangements as well. Asguard's means for interplanetary travel has been destroyed, and if the Chitauri now invade, Odin and his forces can't come to Earth's aid. Now, all that A.I.M. needs to seal the bargain is to get their hands on the Tesseract. This is where Jane comes in._

_Jane's research has the potential to re-establish the interplanetary travel route between Asguard and Earth in short order and that is a direct threat to their plans. The route can't be reestablished soon from the other end, but it can be done from our side. If it is done, Asguard will be able to come to Earth's aid, when the Chitauri invade, and that is something that A.I.M. will not allow. If they were to become aware of Jane and her research, they will not stop until she is dead, no matter the price they have to pay. And if they come for her, you don't have anything remotely capable to stop them. That above all, is the reason why I hacked into your servers, and erased every single shred of data pertaining to her research."_

* * *

Jane was literally shedding tears, as she heard her brother's confession, while the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel hurriedly held a mini conference of their own.

"We need to get her to a safe location, now. He has bought her some time, but I don't think it will last for long. Sooner or later, this A.I.M., will find her," Natasha spoke out, while there were guarded nods from the others.

"Where do we move her? From what the doc says, we are compromised beyond repair, if we move her, they will know, right?" Barton asked, at which the others lowered their heads.

Suddenly, Fury smirked, "I know the perfect place, where she can work and conduct her research without any trouble," he concluded, while the others looked at him in surprise.

"Where?" Coulson asked, at which Fury replied, "Later, Coulson, and believe me, you are going to love it," even as he began to play the disc.

* * *

"_Now, Director Fury, I have provided you with the intelligence you need, and will keep on doing so, for the near future. And if necessary, I might even devise a few … weapons," here the revulsion in the young man's face was clearly visible, "to offset the advantage they have over you. But that is for a later time. I will leave the rest in your capable hands. Please move back from the screen, as this disc will detonate in 5…4…3…2…1…"_ suddenly, there was a brilliant flash, as all the screens, and the computers in the room literally melted down, and a dense and acrid smoke filled the room, as the smell of brunt plastic assaulted their noses.

"God … he really doesn't kid around, does he?" Hill muttered, as she switched on the vents in the room, which cleared out the smoke quickly.

"Right, first things first," Fury was back in his element, "Hill, I want you to make a list of all those bases of A.I.M. the kid mentioned about, and start placing surveillance on them," he ordered as Hill gave a curt nod, and walked out.

"Barton, Romanoff, I am placing you two on full time bodyguard duty for Dr. Foster. You will shadow her at all times. Two squads will be on permanent stand-by to provide assistance if needed," he ordered, even as the two nodded.

"Whoa there, wait a minute, don't I get a say in this?" Jane asked, in an incredulous tone, at which Fury replied in a curt tone, "NO!"

"Where are you moving her?" Selvig asked with concern rife in his tone, even as Fury smirked. "Don't worry doctor; you are going with her, along with the Tesseract. We are relocating it as well," Fury concluded, while the agents raised their eyebrow at it.

"Where?" Selvig asked, at which Fury smirked, "Stark Towers."

"That will make Stark's day; you know that he will poke his nose in this. How do we keep him away from this information?" Natasha muttered, while Fury truly had a devilish smirk on his face.

"I think we will leave that to the most intelligent human being in this planet's history," Fury replied coolly, even as the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. nodded, understanding what the director meant by that.

"I will make sure that we have some popcorn and a handy cam ready when that happens, sir," he replied, while Fury nodded. "Do so; I wouldn't want to miss it for the world."

With that, Barton, Natasha, Jane & Selvig left the room, leaving only Fury and Coulson in the room.

"So, what is the jackpot boss, what have you got for me?"Coulson asked, knowing that Fury had as usual kept the best for the last.

Fury took out the phone that Potter had given him, and looked at a message within, before turning to Coulson, with a full-blown grin on his face.

"_Get an arctic extraction team ready, Coulson. You are going to the North Pole. The Doc just sent me the co-ordinates to the place where Captain America crashed in the forties. He says that the good captain is still alive, but is in suspended animation. I don't know how he got that info, but it is enough for us. We are getting the first Avenger back, now."_

Two seconds later, Coulson literally raced out of the room, barking orders into his ear piece, while Fury allowed himself to smile for the first time in the day.

* * *

**Preview of coming chapters:**

"Dude, do you even know what you are talking about? My degrees have degrees of their own, and you are just an engineer from MIT! You are nowhere near my league, you are just a glorified garage tinkerer at best," Harry scoffed, while Tony took a step back in outright shock, while everyone began to laugh.

"Whoa there, now hold on kid, that is enough with the Big Bang Theory references. You are certainly obnoxious enough to be Sheldon Cooper, but I am way too cool to be compared with Wolowitz of all people," Tony replied, while everybody else broke out into laughter again, seeing the look on Tony's face.

"Oh, I don't know Stark, I think the doc nailed it right in the head," Barton muttered, while he tried to desperately rein in his laughter even as Tony pouted.


End file.
